After the release of the Deimos shotgun, it kinda clicked to me that despite having strong, able shotguns in the game, Overkill are entirely unwilling to buff the older shotguns that really haven't withstood the test of time. With this mod, I hope to generally address this, by buffing and nerfing certain parts of almost all shotguns, providing them with unique identities without any of them being particularly overpowered (read: stronger than the vanilla Deimos) and not leaving any too far behind. A lot of these balance changes are tentative and may be changed after some testing, but I hope to shine some light on the shotgun category that for too long has sat in the shadow of other weapon categories, and bring some joy to shotgun lovers like myself without making the game seem too ridiculous.
I'm aware that a LOT of guns have been changed by this mod in varying ways, so I figured I'd list them all here for easy reading. A few changes apply to all shotguns however, and those are:
- The reduced hit chance beyond a certain distance has been removed
- Raycasts (pellets) fired per shot has been standardised back to 12
- Damage falloff now applies from 15-30 metres, with a maximum penalty of -30%, as opposed to much smaller ranges and harsher percentages
- Fixed reload speed buffs occasionally not applying to shell-based shotguns and other weapons
- Adjustments to shotgun ammo types
It's also worth noting that damage is generally up across the board, as shotguns felt pretty bad to use when not combined with zerk. Hopefully, this helps alleviate that too.
PRIMARIES:
Spoiler!
Reinfeld 880
I wanted to solidify this gun as an "ol' reliable" pump action, the big brother of the Locomotive. Nothing particularly stands out about it, but it gets the job done, and it should no longer be overshadowed by the Mosconi Tactical.
- Damage: 90 β 120
- Magazine Size: 6 β 8
- Concealment: 11 β 14
- Accuracy: 40 β 36
- Rate of Fire: 104 β 110
- Ammo pickup: (0.42-1.47) β (0.77-1.88)
- Reload Time decreased by 10%
Mosconi 12G Double Barrel
When I thought about it, the double barrels kind of have the fundamental flaw of spending most of the heist reloading for very little benefit. As a result, I decided to lean into what made these guns fun, but made sure they didn't get too out of control. Think of them as the shotgun versions of the Thanatos or Amaroq. Their rate of fire is also drastically reduced to prevent Bulletstorm abuse.
- Damage: 155 β 498
- Accuracy: 60 β 52
- Rate of Fire: 500 β 100
- Max Ammo: 32 β 20
- Ammo Pickup: (0.32-1.12) β (0.09-0.69)
Joceline O/U 12G
Similar to the Mosconi 12G, however the Joceline in vanilla is simply a direct downgrade from the Mosconi, with no reason to use it. I've bolstered some of its stats to make it match more closely.
- Damage: 155 β 498
- Concealment: 7 β 12
- Accuracy: 60 β 52
- Rate of Fire: 500 β 100
- Max Ammo: 28 β 20
- Ammo Pickup: (0.28-0.98) β (0.09-0.69)
Breaker 12G
The one everyone's probably excited about, but I don't really have much changed about it - the gun is so close to perfect but Overkill simply won't do what needs to be done.
- Max Ammo: 28 β 48
- Rate of Fire: 80 β 90
- Ammo Pickup: (0.28-0.98) β (0.6-1.52)
- Accuracy: 48 β 40
Mosconi 12G Tactical
While this gun was vastly stronger than any other shotgun on its release, it's already been powercrept out of relevancy. I've given it a small touch-up to help it out, but nerfed some stats to bring it back in line with the other pump shotguns.
- Damage: 110 β 120
- Rate of Fire: 150 β 120
- Accuracy: 36 β 40
- Concealment: 19 β 17
- Ammo Pickup: (0.57-1.98) β (0.69-1.84)
- Reload Time decreased by 5%
M1014
In conjunction with the changes to damage falloff on shotguns, the changes to the M1014 should make it more like the monster it used to be, while toning down the pickup rate so it isn't entirely out of control.
- Damage: 55 β 75
- Ammo Pickup: (3.2-4.8) β (2.6-4.2)
Predator 12G
These are pretty much the same changes as the M1014.
- Damage: 55 β 75
- Ammo Pickup: (3.3-4.95) β (2.66-4.32)
Raven
This gun has forever gone underutilised in loud gameplay due to the sluggish reload and lacklustre payoff. Hopefully these changes will make it fit in more with other pump action shotguns as the more concealable little brother.
- Damage: 90 β 140
- Max Ammo: 42 β 40
- Ammo Pickup: (0.42-1.47) β (0.53-1.49)
- Reload Time decreased by 15%
Reinfeld 88
As the bulkier version of the Reinfeld 880, I wanted this gun to be the more powerful version with minor drawbacks. It already kind of is in vanilla, so I'm keeping the trend going.
- Damage: 120 β 155
- Max Ammo: 35 β 48
- Rate of Fire: 120 β 100
- Ammo Pickup: (0.35-1.23) β (0.68-1.55)
- Reload Time decreased by 5%
Izhma 12G
While I wanted this gun to be stronger and more consistent, I've decided to also tone down some other aspects of the gun so it doesn't massively outshine the other automatic shotguns. Additionally, considering the concealability, the Izhma got too much ammo back for how little time the users spend out of cover, so it's been trimmed slightly.
- Damage: 42 β 55
- Concealment: 13 β 9
- Ammo Pickup: (3.5-5.25) β (2.6-4.0)
Steakout 12G
The Steakout has been in a weird spot for a long time, with the swappable magazine clearly implying it should be useable in both 75 and 23 detection risk builds. Despite that, the concealment difference isn't high enough and the gun's base concealment is too low, making it infeasible to use it for those purposes. I've made some adjustments that should allow it to fit into this role a bit better.
- Damage: 42 β 60
- Concealment: 9 β 13
- Ammo Pickup: (3.6-5.4) β (2.8-4.2)
Drum Magazine: - Concealment: -4 β -8
- Stability: 0 β +4
- Accuracy: 0 β -4
VD-12
One of the newest shotguns, there wasn't too much wrong with it, but I've decided to make some minor adjustments to solidify its personality as the Iron Man's shotgun of choice. I've also bolstered its max ammo and pickup rate, as heavier builds will be less willing to spend time out of cover to get that precious ammo back again.
- Damage: 65 β 70
- Concealment: 6 β 1
- Max Ammo: 56 β 84
- Ammo Pickup: (2.8-4.2) β (3.6-5.4)
Short Barrel: - Concealment: +2 β +1
Starlight Stock removed
Deimos
The newest addition to the category, it's what inspired this mod in the first place - surprisingly, I'm not nerfing it, but I want to make sure it fits in better with both the pump action shotguns and the semi auto shotguns when built to fit a purpose.
- Damage: 135 β 120 (Semi mode 101.25 β 90)
- Concealment: 13 β 14
- Max Ammo: 25 β 50
- Pickup Rate: (1.25-1.88) β (1.1-1.75)
- Reload Time decreased by 10%
AKIMBOS:
Spoiler!
I hate to say it, but these are mostly nerfs.
Akimbo Goliath 12G
The vanilla stats the Akimbo Goliath had honestly weren't that bad, but given the discrepancy between them and the updated single variant, I wanted to make the akimbos stand out, while not being overly strong. As a result, some of these changes might seem a bit harsh.
- Damage: 42 β 55
- Max Ammo: 72 β 63
- Ammo Pickup: (3.69-5.4) β (2.1-3.2)
- Concealment: 13 β 9
- Reload Time increased by 20%
Akimbo Judge
These are the only shotguns I left untouched, actually, but it felt weird not at least mentioning that.
Brothers Grimm 12G
Probably the most harshly nerfed gun in the entire mod, this might be subject to change later. With the additional ammo type changes though, a certain combination might be a touch more appealing now. A small nudge in damage might also encourage more diverse choices.
- Damage: 18 β 30
- Magazine Size: 16 β 14
- Max Ammo: 96 β 64
- Ammo Pickup: (4.8-7.2) β (2.5-4.4)
- Accuracy: 12 β 24
- Concealment: 21 β 13
- Reload Time increased by 20%
Akimbo VD-12
Similar to the Brothers grimm, but designed more around being an active weapon rather than a utility. These are also massively nerfed, but should still generally hold their own.
- Magazine Size: 20 β 16
- Ammo Pickup: (3.0-4.5) β (2.3-3.6)
- Accuracy: 28 β 36
- Concealment: 15 β 9
- Reload Time increased by 20%
SECONDARIES:
Spoiler!
Locomotive 12G
As the little brother to the Reinfeld 880, this gun didn't really need much tuning, though I've lowered the max ammo a little bit to fit the role of a secondary more, rather than just being a clone in the secondary slot.
- Damage: 90 β 105
- Max Ammo: 42 β 30
Goliath 12G
A secondary that I feel has never really had a place in anyone's build, I've decided to make a personality for it, declaring it as a fun and gimmicky secondary semi-automatic. Some of the changes are a bit strange, but I think they make for an interesting gun to use.
- Damage: 42 β 55
- Max Ammo: 54 β 42
- Ammo Pickup: (2.7-4.05) β (1.6-2.8)
- Concealment: 13 β 15
Grimm 12G
This gun has always served as an example that Overkill don't really know how to balance their own game. It's been too strong of a utility shotgun since its release, with a nigh-bottomless ammo pool. These changes tackle that drastically, while also lowering its efficacy as a tool, but still making it stand out from the Judge. A small nudge in damage might also encourage more diverse choices.
- Damage: 18 β 30
- Max Ammo: 104 β 48
- Ammo Pickup: (5.2-7.8) β (1.6-4.3)
- Accuracy: 12 β 24
- Stability: 48 β 36
- Concealment: 21 β 17
Claire 12G
The little pocket cannon that could - this gun's received similar treatment to the primary double barrels, but with some tweaked numbers given it's a secondary.
- Damage: 155 β 498
- Rate of Fire: 500 β 100
- Max Ammo: 44 β 12
- Ammo Pickup: (0.22-0.66) β (0.08-0.60)
- Accuracy: 56 β 64
GSPS 12G
Despite being a secondary, this has been one of the strongest shotguns in the game for a while. Giving it a few slight tweaks to reduce its power, but also slightly buffing pickup to improve consistency.
- Damage: 155 β 130
- Max Ammo: 28 β 21
- Ammo Pickup: (0.28-0.98) β (0.34,1.02)
- Concealment: 22 β 20
Street Sweeper
Lets be honest, when's the last time you used this gun? Similar to the Raven, a slow reload discouraged people from using this gun for long, even after Overkill buffed it once. I'm buffing it slightly again while also making it play a bit similarly to the new Goliath.
- Damage: 42 β 60
- Concealment: 21 β 18
- Accuracy: 28 β 36
- Stability: 44 β 36
- Max Ammo: 72 β 36
- Ammo Pickup: (3.6-5.4) β (2.1-3.45)
- Reload Time decreased by 15%
Argos III
This gun was always very strangely balanced, so I've brought it back in line with other secondary semi-automatic shotguns. Overall though, it should play similarly, if not more reliably.
- Damage: 110 β 70
- Concealment: 24 β 16
- Ammo Pickup: (0.88-1.23) β (1.9-3.1)
- Reload Time increased by 10%
The Judge
I think we all know this weapon is the king of utility. There's nothing particularly wrong with the gun, but I've decided to lower the max ammo slightly to reduce the effectiveness of spamming, and reduced damage to prevent it from overshadowing other non-utility shotguns.
- Damage: 155 β 108
- Max Ammo: 35 β 20
AMMO TYPES:
Spoiler!
Tombstone Slugs
Never knew why these were named slugs when they behaved similarly to flechettes. In any case, these originally seemed like a new, powercreep version of Dragon's Breath rounds, and I wanted to make the two stand apart from one another. In the case of Tombstone rounds, I've nerfed its efficacy as a spammed CC utility, but removed the ammo and damage penalty to help it stand out as a more proactive ammo type. With the new falloff changes, these should also reliably trigger from a greater distance as well.
- Max Ammo Penalty: -35% β Removed
- Damage: -4 β +5
- Poison Trigger Chance: 100% β 40%
- Poison Damage: 120 β 90
- Poison Duration: 5s β 2.1s
- Total Poison Damage per Proc: 1,080 β 360
000 Buckshot
With how shotguns have been changed, I've decided to slightly nerf the max ammo to make them slightly less of a "correct" option. It shouldn't affect much, but might encourage more forethought about builds involving it.
- Damage: +15 β +20
- Max Ammo Penalty: None β -5%
AP Slugs
As fine as these are, the max ammo penalty was too large to be used practically in long-range slug builds, and the max ammo nerfs I've made to utility shotguns would hurt these too, so I've reduced the ammo penalty. I also boosted the accuracy a tiny bit just to help out the shotguns that can't achieve a perfect accuracy.
- Max Ammo Penalty: -10% β -5%
- Accuracy: +8 β +12
HE Rounds
No changes currently
Flechettes
After the damage range falloff patch, shotguns either were capable of using these, or suffered. Hopefully with the overall falloff adjustments I've made that's no longer the case, but I wanted to make sure these still had a reason to exist, by reducing accuracy to help multishots and further increasing the falloff range.
- Accuracy: +8 β +4
- Falloff modifier: +10 metres β +15 metres
Dragon's Breath
With the changes to Tombstone rounds mentioned above, I wanted to further solidify the Dragon's Breath rounds as a utility option, and re-added the ability to trigger Overkill with them. Additionally, now that fire cannot critically strike, I've bumped up the damage over time so they're still fairly effective.
- Max Ammo Penalty: -10% β -35%
- Damage: -6 β -35
- Accuracy: -4 β +8
- Fire Trigger Range: 14 metres β 20 metres
- Fire Damage: 100 β 120
- Fire Duration: 3.1s β 3.6s
- Total Fire Damage per Proc: 500 β 840
- Can trigger Overkill
Big thanks to Hoppip for helping me figure out how Tombstone rounds worked, and my testers for making sure no guns felt too strong or weak.
